Reading, listening to, and questioning America... from the southern Great Plains

A vote for gun control

With a little help from Michael Bloomberg, Robin Kelly won the Democratic primary in Illinois. She's running for the seat Jesse Jackson Jr. had to abandon. Kelly didn't just win, she wiped her opponent off the Illinois map with a strong position on the need for control of firearms.

A
snowstorm and lack of voter interest kept turnout low as Kelly had 52
percent to 25 percent for former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and 11
percent for Chicago 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale with 99 percent of
precincts counted. ...Kelly
framed her win as a victory for gun control forces. ...ChiTrib

The election comes up in April. Kelly's opponent doesn't look very strong. Republican Paul McKinley is apparently a convicted felon.

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The enthusiasm for gun control goes way beyond Chicago or, for that matter, Mayor Bloomberg's millions. A new poll shows that America is worried about guns -- big time.

The Kaiser Family Foundation asked adults how much they worry about a
certain situations, ranging from their ability to afford health care to
the possibility of being a victim of a terrorist attack.

It found, in a new poll out Wednesday, that Americans worry more
about being a victim of gun violence than they do about losing a job or
being unable to pay their mortgage. ...SarahKliff, WaPo

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Now the Senate is getting into the act. Earlier this morning CBS News reported that "Senate lawmakers this week are beginning what appears to be their
final push to pass gun control legislation in response to the deadly
massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in December."

On Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is chairing a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013,"
which she introduced last month. The following day, the Judiciary
Committee plans to consider the assault weapons ban, which would also
ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as three other bills. ...CBS

The whole Senate may vote it down, and the House isn't going to let it through. Unless, of course, voters exert some serious, swift pressure.